Apple Picking: A Great Fall Tradition

Here in Missouri, the end of Labor Day signifies the beginning of fall. The leaves begin to change, you hope for cooler weather, and all of the fun festivities kick into high gear. One of my favorites is apple picking. Not only do we get a chance to spend time outside as a family, but we also get to come home and make some of our family favorite recipes. If you aren’t sold on the idea yet, I wanted to share my experience from last weekend.

Picking the right apple orchard

Visiting the orchard is something I have been doing with my kids for years. There was even an incident with Paige a couple of years back when she had a blowout in her diaper without a single bathroom in sight! However, that is a story for another time. Every year I love looking for smaller orchards, with a variety of apples, so the kids have a chance to try different types and can vote on their favorite.

This year I chose a great little orchard in Marthasville, MO called Thierbach Orchards & Berry Farm. They had the cutest general store where you could find homemade jellies, jams, and pickles, to handwoven baskets, produce, and candy. Right outside of the store was goats you could feed, play equipment for the kids, and additional activities you could purchase wristbands for $5/kid to utilize. There are also a couple of apple trees in this area that Paige especially liked to climb because of their short stature and twisted branches.

Heading out to the orchard

After spending some time playing and having a good time, the tractor arrived to take out to the apple trees. The kids loved picking their spot in the wagon for the best view and pointing out all of the exciting things they saw on our ride. It was beautiful to see the corn fields, wildflowers, and apple trees all nestled on a hill with the perfect blue sky as their backdrop. Gavin mentioned how pretty everything was and that ‘fall’ is his favorite time of year.

When you get off the tractor, you are greeted with wooden boxes where you select the size bag you want for your apples. One thing to remember, you pay for your apples based upon their weight so be careful not to grab a bag that will have you spending $100. 🙂 After the kids grabbed their bags, they were off to pick the apples they thought would taste the best. Paige had a little bit of an advantage because she was taller than the boys and could reach the better apples. We picked a mixture of colors and shapes so we could have a contest of who selected the perfect one. The kids were smiling from ear to ear, and it was great to get time as a family without screens in all of our faces.

Great way to spend the day

All in all, it was a great way to spend the day as a family. The kids cannot wait to share our applesauce recipe with everyone because it is one of their favorite things to make. I highly recommend this apple orchard because it is not nearly as crowded as the more popular farms, there was a lot of stuff for the kids to do, and the apples were pretty affordable. I hope you and your family can make a trip to an orchard by you soon!

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Meet the Writer

Hello, I’m Brooke, a working mom and aspiring sane member of society. I love being creative, wrangling my children and sharing my story. I feel like a mad hatter because of all the different hats I have to wear on a daily basis. I work full-time in marketing and try to balance all of the great things this life throws at me. The greatest lesson I have learned is it takes a better person to be kind than to be hurtful and try to live every day with that in mind.